Nigerian Minister of Aeronautics and Aerospace Development Festus Keyamo accused private jet operators of engaging in illegal leasing business for more than 40 years, causing the federal government to temporarily impose serious safety risks.
Speaking at a ministerial press conference in Abuja in 2025, Keyamo revealed that a task force established under his government has discovered widespread abuse of private jet permits, resulting in a huge loss of revenue in the country.
“When we took office, we inherited a major issue and we decided to address it head-on: the illegal use of private jets in unauthorized charter operations. The operations of these private jets are largely unorganized and they do whatever they like. On top of that, they deny a large amount of revenue from the federal government,” Keyamo said.
“When I took office, people told me, ‘Minister, don’t bother yourself about it. These are the big guys who have Nigeria. You can’t handle them. Just forget it. But I refused,” he revealed.
Keyamo explained that the federal government lost about 100 billion in revenue over the past decade due to illegal leasing operations.
Keyamo details how private jet owners can escape higher fees by obtaining a private non-commercial flight (PNCF) license (for individuals or companies) while secretly using their aircraft for commercial rental services.
“The fees for these licenses are significantly different. A PNCF license is much cheaper because it is a corporate director, family member or personal business trip for private purposes. However, if you want to operate a commercial flight carrying passengers at a fee, you have to get a different, more expensive license,” he explained.
“These private jets are used every day to operate the business, defrauding government revenue. Worse, some people apply to fly out of the country on charter flights without proper documentation. In many cases, the authorities do not even have passengers or everything that is being transported. This is a serious security threat,” he warned.
“Once, they even suggested closing the General Aviation Terminal (GAT) that provides private charter flights for a comprehensive safety overhaul. While we cannot close the commercial section, we are reviewing their recommendations to implement the necessary reforms without disrupting passenger actions,” he said.
“The President has given us a free help to solve this problem. We will ensure compliance with the law regardless of who is affected,” he declared.
